Fastener for watch-dials, &amp;c.



E. A. MARSH.

PASTBNBR PoR WATUH DIALS, 1w.

APPLIGATIONTILED1111.23. 1912. 1,065,952. Patented July 1, 1913. N

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD A. MARSH, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WALTHAM 'WATCH COMPANY, 0F WALTI-IAM, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

FASTENER FOR WATCH-DIALS, &o.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. MARSH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of lvlassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fasteners for latch-Dials, &c., of which the following is a specification.

There are two contrasting factors in the construction of watch dials which render them specially liable to breakage. Those ordinarily known as enamel dials are made by the fusing of pulveriZed enamel (a sort of opaque glass) upon a foundation plate of soft sheet copper. This combination of soft, pliable copper and brittle unyielding glass, or enamel,results in a product which is unavoidably fragile, and therefore requires very careful treatment. In order to locate and hold a watch dial in its proper position, relative to the mechanism of the watch, it is the ordinary usage to provide the body of the dial with a certain number (usually three) of so-called feet formed of copper wire. These feet are firmly attached to the copper plate of the dial and are so located as to fitinto corresponding sockets in the main frame plate or pillar plate 7 of the watch movement, and are usually held in place by the firm pressure of impinging screws. Two very serious objections to this method of rigid attachment are, first, the liability of cracking the brittle enamel, by the bending of the soft copper under the unyielding force of the binding screws, and second, the flexibility of the pliant copper feet, which are inclined to give way7 under the pressure of the bindingI screws, so that in time the dials are apt to become loose so that they fail to maintain their proper position of firm attachment to the watch movement and are liable to come in contact with the watch hands and interfere with their free and accurate movement, which is liable to be a serious objection.

In Letters Patent of the United States, No. 543,628, granted to me July 30, 1895, I have shown a device intended to obviate the above-mentioned objections, the pillar plate being provided with spring jaws and the dial feet with inclined shoulders against which said jaws bear yieldingly in such manner as to draw the feet yieldingly into the sockets, and hold the dial plate yield- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led February 23, 1912.

Patented July 1, 1913.

Serial No. 679,283.

ingly against the pillar plate. The spring jaws of said patent are located in undercut recesses which are formed wholly within the periphery of the pillar plate and cannot be made large enough to hold spring jaws of adequate size and adapted to perform the function for which they are intended, without encroaching more or less on portions of the pillar plate sometimes required for other purposes. Moreover, it is a matter of considerable difficulty to engage the spring jaws with the said undercut recesses. For these reasons the said patented device has never been commercially used.

The object of the present invention is to provide means for yieldingly holding a dial plat-e against a pillar plate in such manner as to obviate the objections to securing devices which rigidly engage the dial feet, and also the objections to the construction embodying the said patented invention.

The invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings: Figure l represents a plan view of a watch movement pillar plate provided with dial-holding means embodying my invention, a part of the plate being shown in section; Fig. 9. represents a section on line 2-2, Fig. 1, showing` a dial foot and a portion of the dial; Fig. 3 represents a view similar to Fig. 2, showing a second embodiment of the invention; Fig. et. represents a section on line i-4L, F ig. 3; Fig. 5 represents an edgev view of the pillar plate and dial, showing a third embodiment of the invention; Fig. G represents a section .on line (3-(, Fig. 5; Fig. 7 represents a view similar to Fig. G, showing a fourth embodiment of the invention; Fig. 8 represents a section on line 8 8, Fig. 7. Fig. 9 represents an edge view of a po-rtion of the dial, showing one of the dial feet.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in each of the figures.

Referring first to Figs. l and 2, l2 represents the pillar plate of a watch movement, the periphery of which is adapted to closely lit the interior of a watch case center, the said periphery having the usual flange l2a forming` a shoulder at the dial side of the plate.

In the plate l2 are formed the usual sockets 13 for the reception of the dial feet,

las

said sockets being usually three in number. An opening or passage 111 extends from each socket 13 to the periphery of the plate, the outer end of the said opening being in the portion of the periphery under the flange 12.

ln the openings 14 are located movable dial-foot-engaging members 15 which project into the sockets 13 and extend outwardly therefrom toward the periphery of the pillar plate. The members 15 form parts of detents adapted to yieldingly engage the dial feet, said members being pressed yieldingly toward the centers of the sockets 13. Said detents include elongated controlling members 16 of segmental form located in elongated recesses 17 formed for their reception in the periphery of the plate 12 below the flange 12a.

In the embodiment of the invention shown by Figs. 1 and 2, the controlling members 16 bear separably on the outer ends of the foot-engaging members 15 and are anchored to the pillar plate by inwardly bent end portions 1S entering radial sockets 19 formed in the pillar plate. The controlling members 16 are resilient and exert a constant yielding inward pressure on the footengaging members. 20 represents the dial plate, and 21 the inwardly projecting feet attached thereto as usual and adapted to enter the sockets 13. Each foot 21 is provided with a recess having an inclined face 22 which forms an abutment for the corresponding foot-engaging member 15, the inclination of said face being as indicated in Figs. 2 and 9, so that the yielding pressure of the member 15 against it draws the foot into the socket and yieldingly holds the dial plate against the pillarl plate 12. lt will be seen that the detent members 15 and 16 are applied to the pillar plate at the periphery thereof, the member 15 being first inserted in the opening 14 and the member 16 then engaged with the pillar plate as shown. The operation of assembling the parts may therefore be expeditiously and conveniently performed. The location of the controlling member 16 on the exterior of the pillar plate enables said member to be of any length that may be desired to enable it to perform its function effectively.

In the modification shown by Figs. 3 and 4 152L represents the foot-engaging member and 16a the controlling member. rlhese members are positively connected, the member 16QL being a relatively wide and thin piece of spring steel, anchored to the pillar plate by a screw 18a. rllhe opening 14a is formed and arranged like the opening 14- in the construction rst described.

ln the modification shown by Figs. 5 and 6 the foot-engaging member 15b is integral with the controlling member 16, both being formed from a single piece of wire, one end of which is bent to form an anchoring member 18". Here the opening leb is arranged partly at one side of the socket 13, as shown by Fig. 6, the inclined face 22 of the foot 21 being correspondingly arranged, as shown by Fig. 5.

In the modification shown by Figs. T' and 8, the foot-engaging member 15c is also integral with the controlling member 16c and has the curved form shown by Fig. 7, the opening 14C being correspondingly formed.

Each of these modified constructions has the advantages above mentioned in connecN tion with the construction shown by Figs. 1 and 2, and the added advantage of a positive connection between the foot-engaging member and the controlling member, so that said members are applied as one part.

l claim 1. ln a watch movement, a pillar plate having dial-foot-receiving sockets, openings extending outwardly from said sockets to the periphery of the plate, and detents which are secured to the pillar plate in exterior peripheral grooves thereof outside the said. openings and project through the openings into the sockets, the detents being pressed yieldingly toward the centers of the sockets, combined with a dial plate having feet adapted to enter said sockets and provided with inclined faces forming abutments for the detents, and. arranged to cause the detents to press the feet inwardly and hold the dial plate yieldingly against the pillar plate.

2. fn a watch movement, a pillar plate having dialefoot-receiving sockets, openings extending outwardly from said sockets to the periphery of the plate, elongated recesses in said periphery intermediate the faces of the plate communicating with said openings; and detents, comprising in part elongated spring controlling members located in said recesses and anchored to the pillar plate, and in part foot-engaging members controlled by said controlling members and projecting through the openings into the sockets, thefoot-engaging members being pressed yieldingly toward the centers of the sockets by said controlling members, combined with a dial plate having feet adapted to enter said sockets, said feet being provided with faces forming abutments for the engaging members and so inclined with respect to the direction in which the engaging members press thereon that the latter press the feet inwardly and hold the dial plate yieldingly against the pillar plate.

3. ln a watch movement, a pillar plate having dial-foot-receiving sockets, openings extending outwardly from said sockets t-o the periphery of the plate, elongated recesses in said periphery communicating with said openings, resilient controlling members located in said recesses and cach anchored to the pillar plate at a point remote from' and arranged to cause the latter to press ing members controlled by said controlling the feet inwardly and hold the dial plate members and projecting through the openyieldingly against the pillar plate.

ings into the sockets, the foot-engaging In testimony whereof I have aixed my members being pressed yieldingly toward l signature, in presence of two witnesses.

the centers of the sockets by the resilientl EDVARD A MARSH controlling members7 combined with a dial plate having feet adapted to enter said sockets and provided with inclined faces forming abutments for the engaging members the corresponding opening, and foot-engagl Vitnesses C. F. BROWN, P. 7. PEZZETTL Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

